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Making a movie requires a lot of effort. Many components in production must fit together seamlessly to ensure the success of the film. A good script is one of the most important elements. A skilled director and an exceptionally talented cast will not be able to save a movie if they have a bad screenplay. Night Shift is an example that a poorly written script is enough to interpret a movie’s death sentence. The performances here are acceptable in a basic sense and the direction is somewhat effective in the feature’s earlier moments. What is the single most important aspect of the movie is the single weakest part of it. The events rely upon a twist that is equally ridiculous and ordinary. This is the reason why Night Shift ultimately crumbles apart.
Night Shift begins with Gwen (Phoebe Tonkin) arriving at her first shift at the All Tucked Inn motel. Positive in her approach, she meets her new boss Teddy (Lamorne Morris) who shows her around the rundown building and lets her loose for her first shift. But, wait, spooky ghosts are lurking on major sight along with a potential psychopath. Oh no. Will Gwen make it through the night, or will she be some form of freshly cooked hell?
The first 30 minutes of Night Shift gave me somewhat of a cautious optimism. The acting is not done poorly, especially for the budget they had; and the movie seems to create and maintain an underlying atmosphere throughout the first act. However, that can only go so far. 45 minutes in, I find myself wondering why don’t we know almost anything regarding the antagonist(s). We are shown a couple of brief shots of some ghosts, but nothing is set in stone at that stage. In fact, when looking back on it, there is no explanation given on who these ghosts are until the end. All we know from the mid-way mark is that the motel is known for being haunted.
After wandering for about 60 minutes the picture establishes that Gwen is the only witness and survivor of a violent home invasion that took the lives of the family.
At that stage, we learn that the criminal was locked away in a facility but broke out not too long ago. Understandably, said criminal shows up at the motel where Gwen is already fending off strange supernatural beings for who knows what reason. Either of those would have sufficed. However, to add on a murderer from her past after first revealing that the place is haunted by terrible spirits feels like a bit too much.
Yes, the ghosts and the killer do intersect at a certain point. I cannot go into deeper details on how they intertwine, without ruining the stunning twist. Let’s just say the way the different parts come together is terrible and unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the twist that links together the ghosts and the escaped nut case has been far too overused in a lot of other movies. What I prefer is an uncomplicated straight-line story that serves up some good old-fashioned frights and jolts instead of a twist that has me saying why did I bother watching this?
The screenplay here wants to be smart and out of the blue but achieves neither. Known horror fans in their own right, The Chinese brothers Benjamin and Paul, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, seem to be horror fans, but dissecting their screenplay suggests that they were primarily influenced by works such as Vacancy, Last Shift, High Tension, The Shining, and Psycho. Unfortunately, Night Shift is deficient on the level of any of the above-mentioned films.
At this point in time, nearly every single prospective screenwriter seems to take inspiration from something older, so I could never single someone out on that. The sad truth is that almost every single element of this character’s story arc and narrative has been covered and more successfully overdone by other features.
It’s completely understandable to take inspiration from a film that influenced you. This is true for any profession, and especially for a screenwriter. That’s why they need to build upon whatever has been done before and go ahead and do something novel or unexpected. Night Shift, unfortunately, does not do anything unique and, as a consequence, feels dreadfully similar to already existing superior films.
With all things considered, the Night Shift is not a total disaster. The opening act contains a few gripping dialogues and the exchanges are decently done for the most part. But due to the lack of a solid screenplay and blind reliance on popular cliches, the final product is nowhere near as effective as it could be.
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